Blog Archives

May 31st

5/31/2013

The first reported dementia case of a British person choosing to end their own life took place in Switzerland. The 83-year-old was thought to be in the early stages of the neurodegenerative disease.

A psychiatric assessment found that he was mentally competent to make the decision. He knew how the dementia was likely to develop. He did not want to endure that process himself and wanted to make certain that his family did not see him suffer. He travelled to the Dignitas facility in Zurich and reportedly made the choice with the support of his family. He received guidance over the telephone from Dr Michael Irwin, a retired GP known as Dr Death for his views on assisted suicide.

www.topnews.in

The unacknowledged modern day epidemic, Dementia is the gradual loss of brain function and memory and the inability for patients to understand what is happening around them.

It affects 800,000 people in the UK.

USA Today reports that one in three elderly patients have dementia when they die. Deaths from dementia have increased 68% over ten years. In the USA the numbers affected have risen to 5.2 million.

Dementia is a syndrome (a group of related symptoms) associated with an ongoing decline of the brain and its abilities. This includes problems with:

    memory loss

    thinking speed

    mental agility

    language

    understanding

    judgment

www.freeimages.co.uk

People with dementia can become apathetic or uninterested in their usual activities, and have problems controlling their emotions. They may also find social situations challenging, lose interest in socializing, and aspects of their personality may change. They may lose empathy (understanding and compassion), they may see or hear things that other people do not (hallucinations), or they may make false claims or statements.

As dementia affects a person's mental abilities, they may find planning and maintaining their independence difficult. A person with dementia will therefore usually need help from friends or relatives, including help with decision making. An early diagnosis can help people with dementia get the right treatment and support, and prepare those close to them with planning for the future. With treatment and support, many people are able to lead active, fulfilled lives.

To keep dementia at bay: Regular exercise (in those without disability), chewing--bite into an apple, vitamin B & C, and regular drinking of green tea.

Causes: Too much junk food, too much (or lack of) sleep, and prolonged stress.

In my very last job before retirement, I worked in the kitchen of Sunrise Assisted Living in Elstree, UK. I wheeled dementia patients' meals onto a lift to the top floor. Some of the residents were extremely clever. They would hurry into the lift for my return trip. Of course, I wouldn't punch in the security numbers. Instead, I'd take them back to a carer. The one saving grace for the patients was that they seemed unaware of their condition.

Opinions differ about euthanasia. I think a person should have the right to choose an early death as long as their family agrees. Medicine prolongs our life anyway, knocking aside the argument about God's intention about the length of our life. I would have died at the age of 19 with toxemia before the birth of my first child. Despite worries about dementia affecting me in the future, I feel assured of a continuing purpose right now.

10 Comments

May 30th

5/30/2013

8 Comments

www.geograph.org.uk

Writing boldly about my aging process, where few others dare to venture into exposition.

What is real? Only the present moment. Yes, we have our memories and records of past events, but these are nothing compared to the now. However, as we age, the present moment lacks the rewards of our former vitality. We want to live long and healthy lives, but to what end? More and more people are living longer, yet life doesn't offer an unending field of clover.

For me, the days of youth are long gone. Yet, in my mind, I am the same. Well—not quite. Every time I glance down, the wrinkled skin on my hands drags protesting thoughts to my aging body. The wrinkles on my hand hurt too, especially around the creases between my thumb and the back of the hand. At least my mind is still active—writing daily blogs, novel-writing and working on crossword puzzles with my husband.

Those hands were once the subject of a beautiful photograph used in an exhibition. I guess the shape is the same—maybe a little broader. I can't wear my wedding ring any more. Instead, I wear a signet-style ring made from an Australian ruby set in 18ct gold. The only trouble with that is I commissioned the ring to be made out the melted gold from two former wedding bands and my first husband gave me the ruby he bought from the gem fields of Emerald, Queensland in Australia. My present husband doesn't comment. We've agreed that the ring takes the place of my wedding band.

Aging stages for the last 15 yrs.

My arms and legs are the same size, although every now and again I catch sight of dimples underarm where the muscles have released. I don't wear make-up any more. My husband and I live a quiet life together and I rarely see anyone else so I can't see the point of painting my face at the age of 71. And here it is, showing the changes over the last 15 years. A smile looks better than a straight face, but the final shot had to be a serious passport-style photo for my disabled parking badge. A smile makes all the difference—as does make-up.

On the plus side, body hair on legs and under my arms is invisible and odor a thing of the past. The hair on my head is soft, long and strong, each strand twice as thick as before.

Against that, with a decreased production of natural oils, my skin is dry, lips painful unless slathered in protection. With age, the skin thins and becomes less elastic and more fragile. Wrinkles, age spots and small growths on my torso are increasing.

www.guardian.co.uk

Apparently, aging bones tend to shrink in size and density, which weakens them and makes them more susceptible to fracture. I've lost nearly three inches in height. I've become less coordinated as my muscles lose strength and flexibility. It takes longer to remember familiar words or names. Maintaining a healthy weight is more difficult too. As you get older, your muscle mass decreases and body fat takes its place. Since fat tissue burns fewer calories than does muscle, you need fewer calories to maintain your current weight. This one really worries me. I don't like the stomach protruding whereas before I could feel my hips.

See more on Aging: What to expect. Click here to see what do about it. The advice consists of eating well, maintaining exercise and keeping your brain active.

There's even a Viagra for Women, Lybrido, for those who want to enhance or recapture their sexual experiences. Some women argue that the menopause is unfair to women, drying them up in every way. The same thing doesn't happen to men, who can go on reproducing for life. Women also grow fine hair on their jaw, which is so despised in our culture, yet normal for men.

Well, there you have it. I've revealed the good and the bad associated with aging. I want to go on writing. One of my online writing friends, Laurel Lamperd, is 104 years old and has seven published novels. For me, the worst is yet to come—the possibility of living in a retirement home with nothing to keep the brain alive until the body surrenders. And worst of all—doing it alone.

8 Comments

May 29th

5/29/2013

8 Comments

Ethiopia has begun work diverting a stretch of the Blue Nile to make way for a hydroelectric dam that has caused a dispute with countries downstream.

news.nationalgeographic.com

I'm passionate about early Egyptian civilizations and have used related themes in my novels. In my novel Still Rock Water, a modern woman inherits an ancient Egyptian ring, which induces visions. She learns the ring came from the first God's Wife of Amun. The futuristic, fantasy adventures in the Higher Ground series, feature a search for the ring.

The wonders of ancient Egyptian civilization would never have existed without the Nile. I looked into the history of disputes over this life-giving water, which I'll share later.

www.britanica.com

The Blue Nile is one of two major tributaries of the Nile, one of the world's longest rivers. The Blue Nile originates in the country's Lake Tana and flows hundreds of miles north into Sudan and then Egypt before eventually flowing into the Mediterranean. Modern-day Ethiopia claims to be the source of about 85% of the total water in the Nile.

State media claim The Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which will be the equivalent of at least six nuclear power plants, is currently under construction to boost power exports.

Egypt and Sudan object, saying the dam violates a colonial-era agreement, which gives them rights to 90% of the Nile's water.
Experts from Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan are set to announce findings of a study into the impact of the Ethiopian dam on the Nile's flow in the coming weeks. The precious body of water with its fertile yearly deposits has caused a long history of disputes.

www.andinetusa.org

Sourced from Early African Civilizations.

Sedentary agriculture came to Africa as early as 9000 B.C.E. in the area presently comprising the Sahara Desert. At that time, it was a grassy steppe with many rivers, lakes and streams. The people of the area, originally nomadic, established permanent settlements as early as 7500 B.C.E. and cultivated Sorghum for human and animal consumption. Later they cultivated yams, onions and watermelons and domesticated sheep and goats. By 5000 B.C.E. they organized small monarchies ruled by kings who were considered divine.

Ultimately, climactic changes turned the Saharan area into a desert, and forced its inhabitants to migrate elsewhere. Some settled around existing bodies of water such as Lake Chad. Others moved south into present day Uganda, still others congregated in the valley of the Nile River.

The Egyptian Civilization developed in the delta of the Nile and in small ribbons of land along the banks of the river. The Nile flooded every fall as a result of tropical rains deep in the African continent. The Nile flows south to North, but because it has such a lengthy course (one of the longest in the world) and because it travels through vast desert areas, its origin was unknown for many hundreds of years. The yearly Nile flood deposited a thin layer of rich topsoil on the surface. This annual flooding became the basis for the Egyptian civilization. The soil was so fertile and moist that farmers literally scattered wheat seed into the mud, and it grew, producing a surplus crop. The river was so vital to Egyptian civilization that the Greek historian Herodotus called it the "Gift of the Nile."

Aside from its annual flood, the Nile was a calm river, easily navigated, at least near its Delta. This made transportation easy, and helped the people of Egypt unite into a single kingdom. They were able to stay in close contact with one another. Upstream, a series of cataracts made the Nile virtually un-navigable, which protected the Egyptians from invasion by people living upstream. In addition to the Nile, Egypt had a rich store of stone for building, clay for pottery, gold for jewelry and ornaments. Copper was nearby in the Sinai Peninsula; and cedar could be obtained from Lebanon, both close by. This made the Empire virtually self-sufficient.

Egypt profile, sourced from the BBC:
circa 7000 BC - Settlement of Nile Valley begins.

circa 3000 BC - Kingdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt unite. Successive dynasties witness flourishing trade, prosperity and the development of great cultural traditions. Writing, including hieroglyphics, is used as an instrument of state. Construction of the pyramids - around 2,500 BC - is a formidable engineering achievement.

669 BC - Assyrians from Mesopotamia conquer and rule Egypt.

525 BC - Persian conquest.

332 BC - Alexander the Great, of ancient Macedonia, conquers Egypt, founds Alexandria. A Macedonian dynasty rules until 31 BC.

31 BC - Egypt comes under Roman rule; Queen Cleopatra commits suicide after Octavian's army defeats her forces.

642 AD - Arab conquest of Egypt.

969 - Cairo established as capital.

1250-1517 - Mameluke (slave soldier) rule, characterized by great prosperity and well-ordered civic institutions.

1517 - Egypt absorbed into the Turkish Ottoman empire.

1798 - Napoleon Bonaparte's forces invade but are repelled by the British and the Turks in 1801. Egypt once more becomes part of the Ottoman empire.

1859-69 - Suez Canal built.

1882 - British troops take control of Egypt.

1914 - Egypt becomes a British protectorate.

1922 - Fuad I becomes King of Egypt and Egypt gains its independence. ...

Now, the country at the Nile's source wants to divert part of The Blue Nile's flow. I remember reading about an ancient ruler's epitaph. Amongst other claims for his rights to enter the afterlife, he stated that he'd never altered or stopped the flow of a river. Even in pre-history, people recognized the importance.

8 Comments

May 28th

5/28/2013

12 Comments

www.maasai-association.com

Should people take photos of other people and capitalize on the image? The Massai people are addressing this problem, which they consider a violation of their blood. Some of their traditional bead decorations have specific purposes which are not taken into account by inappropriate usage.

I can't say I know everything about their situation, but I've gained a small insight. In 1990, my daughter and her British Kenyan husband lived in a lovely house just outside the district of Karen, Naorobi, where she'd established a small fashion business called Leo Creations. She wrote to me in England:

'I'm learning so much about life living in Kenya, because it's not so easy to avoid people as it is in a big city. There is a very small community here and even if I feel that I don't know anyone, everyone knows me ... Besides all that, everything is difficult, just like I knew it would be in the big wide world. I've discovered how insulated my life has been since I began modeling, and if I left that life for a challenging career, I've certainly come to the right place. I miss you, Mum and wish that somehow our lives were spent nearer one another so that we could share our experiences and pool our resources. There are so many families here, all pulling together and helping one another. I'm sad not to have my family around me. Nevertheless, I chose my own path and of course there's no going back. ...'

Sad. So many families are living separate lives these days. About the same time my daughter left Australia on her modeling career, I embarked on a new life in England. I visited my daughter for two weeks in Nairobi, Kenya in 1993. The flight only took 4 or 5 hours from London. I departed in the summer heat to arrive in slightly cooler air. England had hot summers back then. Not like recent times when the summer temperature hardly raises a sweat.

She drove us to the shops in a little banged-up run-around, stopping to give a lift to some of the many people walking beside the roadway. The locals were so friendly and bright. Traditional Massai people held themselves aloof in their settlements and I only caught sight of them every now and again, walking straight and proud.

Since then, my daughter has returned to Australia, although my two grandsons chose to go back to Kenya close to their father.

But, let me redirect your thoughts to the Massai people and their present situation.

The Maasai people have come to represent Africa at its most primal, a fiercely independent tribe of legendary courage. A Maasai warrior, or a Maasai woman adorned with beads is one of the most powerful images of tribal Africa. Dozens of companies use it to sell products. Now the elders are considering seeking protection for their brand.

The Massai wonder why they are not consulted or included. These ancient and sophisticated people know they are being exploited and they want it to stop. They have engaged the services of a company to help them take charge of their lives. Elders, together with a company Light Years IP, have been travelling around the country holding meetings and workshops. It's a huge task. According to some estimates, there could be as many as three million Maasai, in 12 districts, spread across a vast swathe of Kenya and Tanzania.

From what I've seen in the past, I think they have every right to halt the massive exploitation by businesses. I wouldn't like people to use my image in inappropriate ways. What if they used my photo as a typical old has-been and I saw an image that I'm unhappy with plastered over bill-boards and on the side of passing busses?

12 Comments

May 28th

5/27/2013

5 Comments

Recently, around 200 18th century paving stones were stolen from the Nantgarw Chinaworks Museum in Wales. Why did they ruin a beautiful site laid out for the public to enjoy? Do they hope to sell them, or use them in a garden of their own?

Swansea, Wales is situated on the far-flung edge of the red cartoon cape on the old map of England.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

www.mantgrawandswanseaporcelain.co.uk

Nantgarw's porcelain became highly prized in London society and aristocratic circles after one time Royal Worcester artist and potter William Billingsley bought the works. Between 1813 and 1822 Nantgarw produced some of the finest porcelain ever made.

The museum is the only surviving 19th Century porcelain works in the UK and run by a group of trustees.

www.culture24.org.uk

www.steppeshillfarmantiques.com

South Wales Police has appealed for witnesses. The thieves must have used a lorry to remove the 2ft x 1ft slabs, which were laid before Nantgsarw House was built in 1780, before the pottery works were developed. The theft, which has been estimated as costing £10,000, has been condemned by the museum trustees, who are celebrating the 200th anniversary of the porcelain works opening.

education.gtj.org.uk. Pottery ruins.

www.museumwales.ac.uk

Nothing can undo the harm that the thieves have caused. A similar situation occurred to an old pub next to our home. I didn't hear the thieves in the night when they removed the cast iron ridge capping on the roof of the old building. It's taught me to be more vigilant. Some things can never be replaced.

5 Comments

May 26th

5/26/2013

8 Comments

An attack at a south London betting shop yesterday left a 55-year-old man dead. This sparked memories of the time a gunman walked into a shop where I worked.

webpages.scu.edu

In 1988, I arrived in London from Australia with no job experience apart from running my own tea-rooms and working as a nanny, a job I'd taken after a 27 year marriage split. I accepted the position of caring for a baby while her parents worked at top end jobs in The City. During the day, I walked the busy streets of Camden Town with my charge in a pushchair. I toured the world with the family after 6 months, staying in Sydney, Hollywood and Singapore.

Back in London, I met my present husband in 1989. We decided to live in Australia. Although I could get casual work in catering, my new husband found doors shut. We jumped at the chance of running a pub together in a country town. The Park Hotel boasted three busy bars, a drive-through bottle shop and a restaurant. Over the period of a year, local conditions caused a loss of business and we were out of work again. Rather than continue in the declining economy of those times, we came back to England.

www.123rf.com

I took temporary jobs in betting shops. The work required little instruction and I enjoyed the underground train travel to various parts of London.

The hold-up occurred during a quiet period in a small shop in the East End. I looked up to find a customer with a gun. The manager flashed me a nervous look.

The man said, "Give me all your money. I said ALL your money." Those words are stained on my memory.

After the manager's nod to comply, I hastened to scoop the change from the cash register into a cloth sack while the manager handed over notes from another position. I didn't feel fear, and remained calm during the two minutes the robber remained in the shop.

After he left, we sagged. The manager rang the police, who arrived within minutes. They said we did the right thing by complying with the thief's wishes.

Our employers treated us to a drink at the pub and gave us the rest of the day off. Those words rang in my head while I drifted off to sleep. I recalled the cold look in the gunman's eyes and his instructions for weeks. However, the episode didn't warp my outlook. There are good and bad situations wherever you go.

I was 47 years old and I wasn't meant to die that day. Twenty three years later, I'm still walking, although I'm more likely to be pushing a rollator than a stroller.

8 Comments

May 25th

5/25/2013

11 Comments

www.guardian.co.uk

Shakespeare's property deed signature will go on display on 28th May at the London Metropolitan Archives. It is one of only six known signatures by the famed writer to have lasted for over the 400 years since his death.

In 2004, the BBC announced: Rare examples of William Shakespeare's signature in a will are among important historical papers now available online. The document, which is joined by one million others, has been put on the web by the National Archives.

I looked up some facts about one of the greatest writers of all time.

2012: All's Well That Ends Well has another author along with William Shakespeare, according to research from Oxford University academics. Thomas Middleton has been revealed as the most likely co-author, according to in-depth analysis of the play's vocabulary, rhyming, style and grammar. The latest literary research shows groups of writers working together on plays.

Thomas Middleton, who lived between 1580 and 1627, was a Londoner, younger than Shakespeare, and one professor says his more modern grammar can be detected in the text. But another researcher says that his collaboration with Shakespeare in about 1607 could be likened to an established musician working with a rising star.

Alls Well that Ends Well recognizes the mixing and matching of life. "The web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together." And later: "It is like a barber's chair that fits all buttocks."

Last month on the 23rd April, we celebrated the approximate 449th birthday of William Shakespeare. Born in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564.
He married Anne Hathaway in 1582 and they had three children.
He published poetry before his plays, starting in 1593.
Records of his plays begin to appear in 1594.
Most of his most popular plays were written after Elizabeth’s death he was actually more of a Jacobean writer.

The Globe theatre. openbuildings.com

During his life, Shakespeare wrote 37 plays and 154 sonnets! This means an average 1.5 plays a year since he first started writing in 1589. His last play The Two Noble Kinsmen is reckoned to have been written in 1613 when he was 49 years old.

William Shakespeare may have spent some of his lost early years working as a schoolmaster in a Hampshire village. Local historians in Titchfield near Southampton believe the Bard worked as a schoolmaster at a school there for three years between 1589 and 1592.

So, a man with limited schooling and who spelled poorly is thought to have taught others. I guess there were no National Standards to maintain back then. Shakespeare sounds like a real entrepreneur, wheeling and dealing in property as well as writing, acting and teaching. A man who would do well in any era that allows freedom of the individual.

New research about William Shakespeare's lesser known role as an illegal food hoarder 400 years ago helps us understand him as a more complex figure. As well as hoarding during food shortages, the Aberystwyth University study said the bard was also threatened with jail for tax evasion. Shakespeare's writing reflects food and hunger at the height of the 1607 food riots. His play Coriolanus shows a famine created and exploited by rich merchants and politicians.

www.shakespeare.org.uk

Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway when he was 18. She was 26 and she was pregnant when they married. The Hathaway cottage came from her family estate.

Shakespeare died a rich man. He made several gifts to various people but left his property to his daughter, Susanna. The only mention of his wife in Shakespeare’s own will is: "I gyve unto my wief my second best bed with the furniture". The furniture was the bedclothes for the bed.

Seeing as the cottage belonged to her, this points up the property laws of the time. His epitaph was:

Good friend for Jesus’ sake forbear,

To dig the dust enclosed here:

Blest be the man that spares these stones,

And curst be he that moves my bones.

Though it was customary to dig up the bones from previous graves to make room for others, Shakespeare’s remains are still undisturbed.

Despite his entrepreneur status, he has achieved world renown as a great writer. I would love to be half as good. Please note my book Still Rock Water on the right of the page amongst many others, also written with a co-author.

11 Comments

May 24th

5/24/2013

7 Comments

A strain of cockroaches in Europe has evolved to outsmart the sugar traps used to eradicate them, a BBC News report tells us. Anyone scared of cockroaches? They're clever little insects and much smaller than humans. Here's what American scientists did.

A North Carolina State University team tested the theory by giving cockroaches a choice of jam or peanut butter. They then analyzed the insects' taste receptors, similar to our taste buds. Cockroaches recommend good food sources to each other by communicating in chemicals. The scientists found that mutant cockroaches had a reorganized sense of taste, making them perceive the glucose used to coat poisoned bait not as sweet but rather as bitter.

rhinoceros cockroach. bbc.co.uk

Source: Natural History Museum.

There are about 4,600 species of cockroach and fewer than 30 of these are considered pests. (There are about 5,400 species of mammals).
The world's smallest cockroach is only 0.3mm long and lives in ant nests.
The heaviest cockroach is the huge Australian Rhinoceros Cockroach at 8cm in length.

Dung beetles are similar in looks. When I lived on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia, I saw the clever little dung beetles rolling away every dog dropping within a day to leave the park fresh and clean. Insects can work for us as well as against.

Apparently, one of the primary causes of the fear for cockroaches is a more generalized fear of insects. Insects are an integral and influential part of our culture as illustrated by their infiltration of our language, arts, history, philosophy, and religion. However, as human society has become more urbanized, insects have become more estranged. Most people are at least wary, if not fearful, of certain insects. This may be a reasonable fear based on knowledge or experience (bees, wasps, spiders, mosquitoes), or an unreasonable but culturally understandable repulsion (cockroaches or flies).

iransnews.wordpress.com

The people in East Asia, specially the Chinese, eat all animate objects, including cockroach. Um, I've eaten them too—without realizing. On our year-long caravan trip around Australia in 1972, we are a meal in a tiny café in North Queensland. I was hot and sticky and hungry. Only half-way through the meal did I notice small brown shapes within the food on the plate. That put me off. Then, in the loo/bathroom, I looked up to see a green gecko clinging to the wall above me. I hastened back to my clean caravan, which wasn't infested with cockroaches.

www.wildfacts.com

From the QI Universe. Cockroaches feel exactly the same way about us as we do about them. If a person touches them, they run away and hide, then wash themselves.

Cockroaches also have sensors on their bottoms to detect the direction of airflow, so they can get away from impending attacks. So vacuum cleaners cause them trouble. If you put a vacuum cleaner nozzle behind a cockroach, the wind goes from the cockroach's head to the nozzle, so it thinks something's approaching from the front and runs away—straight into the vacuum cleaner.

Clever and adaptable creatures, cockroaches have been on the earth for more than 400 million years. It doesn't look as if scientists have worked out how to trick them yet.

If you step on people in this life, you're going to come back as a cockroach—WILLIE DAVIS

7 Comments

May 23rd

5/23/2013

5 Comments

www.fanpop.com

More and more bad things are being reported on the news. But does this mean they are increasing, or are we simply hearing more about various studies? Perhaps constant delving is doing us more harm than good.

We should be aware of potential threats and harmful trends in the world, but, rather than focus on them and allow ourselves to be dragged into negativity, perhaps it would be better to concentrate on improving our daily lives and those around us.

On this morning's BBC News, I read about people's coffee addiction increasing—so much that manufacturers are considering adding it to children's sweets as well as their drinks. In another article, children are abusing others in increasing numbers according to a children's charity. One reason seems to be that they're copying porn site behavior. Why are children able to watch this type of material anyway?

Then, there are indiscriminate bombings all over the world. Just recently twelve people were killed by a bomb placed in a rickshaw. This followed other separatist attacks in Pakistan. One bombing in February killed 120 people and an earlier attack in January killing dozens of bystanders. Did such things go on before individuals had the bomb-making technology and we were able to follow each atrocity in the news? Or, do people want to read about killings—like the one yesterday in the UK where a serving soldier was hacked to death while his murderers filmed their action?

Aboriginal paintings www.eden-saga.com

I don't want to be constantly bombarded with this type of information. However, I'm a minority according the most popular articles. The only reason I read the headlines is to find a trigger for my daily thoughts in this blog.

Archeological findings interest me most, especially when I can learn more about mankind's past.

According to BBC News, in Mexico, diggers have found 4,926 well-preserved cave paintings in the north-eastern region of Burgos. The images in red, yellow, black and white depict humans, animals and insects, as well as skyscapes and abstract scenes. The paintings were found in 11 different sites - but the walls of one cave were covered with 1,550 scenes. The area in which they were found was previously thought not to have been inhabited by ancient cultures. The paintings suggest that at least three groups of hunter-gatherers dwelled in the San Carlos mountain range. See some of the paintings here.

www.nationstates.net

An archaeologist involved in the Inah study said that very little is known about the cultures dwelling in Tamaulipas. Apparently, these groups escaped the Spanish rule for 200 years because they fled to the Sierra de San Carlos where they had water, plants and animals to feed themselves.

In the Sixties, Van Daniken claimed aboriginal cave paintings depicted travelers to Earth because of the white circles enclosing their heads. The Swiss author, best known for his controversial claims about extraterrestrial influences on early human culture, wrote books such as Chariots of the Gods?

I can't wait to hear the explanation for the Mexican skyscapes.

5 Comments

May 22nd

5/22/2013

5 Comments

www.ponderosahomes.com

The food swapping movement is taking off world-wide with new groups springing up across the country. Back in the seventies, I lived a similar way in the Back to the Earth lifestyle. I'll reveal more later on in the article.

Throughout history food has been swapped and traded, from cacao beans to spices. This excerpt is taken from---Food in History, Reay Tannahill:

"The raw materials of the ancient Sumerian diet...were barley, wheat and millet; chick peas, lentils and beans; onions, garlic and leeks; cucumbers, cress, mustard and fresh green lettuce. ... Everyday meals probably consisted of barley paste or barleycake, accompanied by onions or a handful of beans and washed down with barley ale, but the fish that swarmed in the rivers of Mesopotamia were a not-too-rare luxury. Over fifty different types are mentioned in texts dating before 2300 BC, and although their numbers had diminished in Babylonian times, the fried-fish vendors still did a thriving trade in the narrow, winding streets of Ur. Onions, cucumbers, freshly grilled goat, mutton and pork (not yet taboo in the Near East) were to be had from other food stalls. ..." See fascinating details of the food timeline and cooking here.

www.happyearth.com.au

A modern movement of food trading includes anything from home-made sushi, ice cream and pate to eggs, apples and wild garlic on offer. At the organized event, people trade home-grown, home-made or foraged foods with each other. No money changes hands, food is the only currency.

The Food Swap Network started in Brooklyn, New York, and so far 125 groups have been established across the US and Canada, from Honolulu to Boston. They are now spreading to Europe, with the UK leading the way. Organizers say the swaps are part of a new type of collectivism including skills sharing and clothes swapping. They also feed into current trends for thrift, recycling and making things yourself.

The aims of food swapping are to reduce waste, save people money and bring communities together. They call themselves: Pioneers of the modern food swapping movement. See Food Swap Network details here. I found a monthly meeting in St. Albans right near me.

How the food swap works:

    The first 30 minutes swappers set up their stalls and fill out card with info including ingredients.

    For the next hour swappers examine and sample items on offer.

    If they are interesting they write their name and what they are prepared to swap.

    In the final 30 minutes the swapping and trading actually happen.

In the seventies, my advertising executive husband suffered a nervous breakdown. I made the decision to accept my father-in-law's generous offer and moved the family with three children from Adelaide, South Australia, to the coastal village of Robe on the far side of the Coorong National Park. We lived in his house in the township (Population 500) and my husband gradually regained peace working to stabilize sand hills on an estate. I settled the children into new schools and set up an extensive vegetable garden.

franishnonspeaker.com

As he regained confidence, my husband established a workshop and bartered woodworking jobs. He carved wooden letters and signs for a small supermarket close to home in exchange for a supply of goods. I swapped vegetables and eggs with local people, worked in a friend's craft shop where I learned to spin, and bought my first colored sheep. After a few years, I ran my own craft shop where I sold pickles and jams made from foraged food, cakes and patchwork quilts. I was always open to barter this for that ... one way to cut out the tax system.

Everyone wins if they swap labor and goods. I'm sure there is enough big business to keep governments running. I won't even discuss the way oil companies have been cheating by unfairly raising the prices of petrol. To my way of thinking, barter works best for normal people. You probably have your own opinion.

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Francene Stanley, author of many published novels. If you like my writing, why not consider purchasing one of my books? You'll see them on the sidebar below.
Born in Australia, I moved to Britain half way through my long life.

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